LOS ANGELES (CP) - The Los Angeles Kings recalled goaltender Yutaka ***ufuji from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Friday.

***ufuji, 24, has not appeared in a game for the Monarchs this season. He has a 3-3-0 record with a 3.19 goals-against average in 10 appearances with Reading of the ECHL.

Should he get into a game, ***ufuji would become the first Japanese man to play in the NHL. He is one of just three Japanese-born players selected by an NHL team, and the first since Hiroyuki Miura was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992.

The six-foot-one, 186-pound ***ufuji played for Kokudo of the Japanese league prior to making his North American debut in 2003 with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones.